I use mainly self-made player I've make 30 years ago. It sounds great but looks not so good. It was made from scrap metal, not from some parts, accepting "military standarts" in workmanship . Belt driven. And a Revox B795 with tangential tonearm. On first player I use Denon DL-103 cartridge, on revox - Pickering XV15 with E400 Stylus. RIAA Preamps and MC Headamp are self-designed and made too, made with transistors, given clear and crisp sound, they are built into turntables to eliminate wiring influence on a low signals.

I use a Technics SL-B210 hooked to a Technics SU-Z100 amp.

I have a BSR McDonald turntable that I bought about 40 years ago and it still works. I haven't used it in years; but, I am resurrecting it. I have recently bought an A/D USB converter to rip my records to wav files for storage onto CD's..

An FYI:
For those of you who rip vinyls to MP3 files, go to http://www.winff.org and get a copy of WinFF for windows for free. I buy and download MP3 music files from Amazon and then convert them to Wav files using WinFF for burning onto CD's for safe keeping.

those crosley and wooden units with ceramic cartridges really suck. i've got 200 records and GROWING STEADLY.

I would think that using a compressed codec would give worse quality than a lossless codec, of course depending on the quality of the original analog source. Also you can burn MP3's onto CD. Don't know why you would want to expand the compressed file into a WAV file, for one you could get far more MP3's onto a CD than WAV files. Your definitely not getting better quality by expanding an MP3 into a WAV file. Also, if your intention is to store the music, why not just store the music in alphabetical order onto a hard drive? Probably just as cheap if not cheaper per amount of space. ??? Just food for thought.
Elvis

Several things:
1) I know that you can burn MP3 files to a CD as they are data files. However, MP3 files cannot (AFIK) be played in a CD player. I want the CD's as they can be stored in my CD changers for later playback. They can also be played in my car's stereo. (I do not own a portable MP3 player.)
2) I have a bad case of tinnitus and cannot hear sounds that well. The continuous ringing in my ears prevents me from hearing music very well. I have to have a sound source (radio, stereo, TV) playing at all times to mask the ringing.
3) The music I will be recording from records is not exactly Hi-Fi when compared to CD's. Whether the music is stored in compressed or lossless codec is irrelavent when the record is 50+ years old. Most of the records are recorded at 33 rpm with some at 78 rpm.
4) Storing MP3 files onto a hard drive is okay, IMHO. But there is a saying in the IT industry: It is not IF a hard drive will crash,; it is WHEN it will crash. Burning WAV or MP3 files to a CD is a better backup over the longterm. Using a jumpdrive is another safe backup too.

As you said: Food for Thought.

don't bet al your money on CD though...

I've been collecting and converting CD's since i had internet ('95 or so)
And a month ago i thought it was time to restore all CD's and make a
new backup onto bluray and while restoring i have had issues with at least 20 %
of the cd's i tried to copy back onto my harddrive.

i think about 40 to 50 cd's had more or less errors from misreading a single file
to loss of the reflective coating, and just when is was finishing with the last ones
a cd exploded in my bluray drive (bye bye bd).
So if you want to be really sure you can get your data back i would always bet on
two different types of backup media.
Luckily i have almost everything on CD , with my collection of 1000+ cd's it's only not
easy to find what i am looking for, therefore i prefer MP3 ...

Ed

1. MP3 files can be played on a CD player, depends on if it's capable.
2. Sorry to hear about your hearing issues.
3. I wasn't questioning this about whether to use MP3 or WAV depending on your source. I was questioning your statement about why you would convert MP3's to WAV, but it would seem only because your cd player doesn't play MP3's.
4. As you heard from the previous post, CD's are not fool proof either. I assumed you would always store on two different hard drives )in case one fry's) The advantages far outweigh the CD's. In fact then you could store as original copy for optimum storage space and convert for playing sources as needed. Or better yet get a cd player that plays MP3's. Now a days most car stereo's do play MP3's.
Myself, I wouldn't even purchase or use a MP3 source, it's an insult to my ears.

Elvis

just bought a bang and olufsen beogram for 90$ and its pretty mint i cant beleive i had been listening to a piece of crap crosley for the last year lol

A B&O is pretty good. What model number did you get?

rx2

Denon DP-30L turntable
Nikko Beta II preamp

Spinning some Hank Mobley right now. Love it!

That's the one good thing about vinyl records, that 30 years down the road they will still play fine without reading errors.

Here is a picture of my Sharp auto filpper turntable. The record plays in it vertically. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed the micro computer controller in it never bites the dust. I do have a identical non working spare one I'm keeping for parts, but someone still has to know how to fix it.

Yeah, records are probably the most durable format ever. I have several that are 50 years old and sound great.

That "auto reverse" unit is AMAZING. I'm sure its not the greatest when it comes to sound quality and record wear, but its so cool. What's even crazier is that there is a boombox with a similar mechanism in it. Yeah, its petty big.

And as others have said, yes, the Crosley stuff is garbage. If you are using one of these pieces of crap there are two things you need to know: 1) records can sound WAY better and b) this thing is ruining your collection with it terrible "molded in a single piece of plastic" stylus.

So how does the $4k Technics SL-1200GAE sound like?

Or the newly announced SONY PS-HX500? (price unknown)

Julien

The technics table is a limited edition of 1200 units only, that's why they are $4000. They will later have a regular production model. Technics sl1200 beyond mk3/4 are not fully analog. The pitch control is digital.

Actually they also suggested the SL-1200G (non anniversary edition) to be also $4000 and fan's aren't happy about that.

Julien

1975 PIONEER PL-112D

that would be the biggest rip of. Those tables sold for new $450-600 (mk2-5), the new model only has minor improvements, it is not by any means an audiophile turntable. Vinyl DJing isnt't as used to be either. Most use digital now.

Own one of these for some years now.
Very happy with the quality. OEM turntable. DJ stuff but I wouldn't dream of using it for that

Acura DJ-4000 Akiyama... it needed a name I guess....
Turns out it is a well respected OEM turntable.
I love it. Direct drive and no nonsense performance.
Could use a dustcover for it. they don't build any with a fixed cover. I'd need to buy a seperate cover for this and that makes me